Boogaloo and Graham
(2014, Dir: Michael Lennox) is an Irish film written by Ronan Blaney about two young
brothers who are bestowed a pair of chicks by their father. Set in Belfast
during the time of ‘the troubles’, the film beautifully contrasts a loving
story of two brothers learning responsibility and independence with an uneasy
and violent backdrop. I wanted to look at this film because I found the
relationship of the two brothers both humorous and touching; the film won the
Best Short Film BAFTA award for 2015.
One
of the major, obvious themes of this film is the bond the two brothers share. I
specifically wanted to look at this because I want the relationship of Jack and
Will to resemble the relationship of two brothers. This is because of the
relationship I have with my brother and how I think that has affected the
relationships I have made at university, myself. One key way the relationship
between brothers Malachy (Aaron Lynch) and Jamesy (Riley Hamilton) is written
so convincingly is in the way they argue. When the two brothers argue about
whose chicken smells worst or the correct way to break out of a house it’s not
a serious argument, instead a petty squabble that usually only arises between
two people as close as brothers. This is easily incorporated into my script by
having Jack and Will debating something serious to them, that when viewed by an
external audience may seem benign such as who rolls the better spliff.
Boogaloo and Graham is very much a film of two
moods. The main story of the brothers is comedic and heart-warming whereas the
setting of war-torn Ireland presents a bleak world that these small children
are growing up in. One of the film’s more comedic moments that is within itself
underscored by the threat of possible later upset is then contrasted (and the
threats overshadowed) by the film’s most pinnacle, shocking moment where the
two young boys fall very close to an experience with death. This reminded me of
what Steve Coombes told us about writing villains: “If you want to make your monster seem
relatable, put a bigger monster next door.” In this case the monster is the
idea of the chickens being taken away and when the two boys run away to try and
solve this, the bigger monster points a gun at them. I will use this idea to
better emphasise the university as a villainous ideal of my piece.
No comments:
Post a Comment